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Reports & Studies

Below is a list of a number of past published studies conducted by the Research Division. Some Center reports are not published or made publicly available due to restrictions in place from the source of the research request. Most research reports can be downloaded and in some instances, a hardcopy publication can be requested. See also Manuals, Monographs, & Guides.

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Titlesort descending Date
Disqualification of Federal Judges by Peremptory Challenge

An analysis of statutory procedures proposed in the early 1980s, and which continue to arise, that would allow federal litigants to challenge, on a peremptory basis, the federal judge or magistrate judge assigned to their case. Prepared at the request of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, the report discusses the proposals that have been offered on the federal level, analyzes the procedures then in effect in seventeen state court systems, and considers the possible administrative consequences of a federal peremptory challenge procedure.

January 1, 1981
District Court Caseload Forecasting: An Executive Summary

A summary of the first phase of the Center's project to develop a caseload forecasting model. The study concludes that indicator-based forecasts can and should be used to help allocate district court resources.

October 1, 1975
District Court Implementation of Amended Federal Civil Rule 16: A Report on New Local Rules

An examination of the local rules federal district courts have developed in response to the 1983 amendment to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16, which calls for increased use of scheduling orders in managing caseloads. An appendix contains sample local rules from fifteen districts.

January 1, 1984
District Court Studies Project: Interim Report

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January 1, 1976
Due Process at Sentencing: An Empirical and Legal Analysis of the Disclosure of Presentence Reports in Federal Courts

A factual and legal review of practices in courts and probation offices concerning the preparation and disclosure of presentence reports. The authors analyze the impact of the disclosure mandated by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(c)(3) on the federal sentencing process, and they make recommendations for improvements. Reprint of 93 Harvard Law Review 1613 (June 1980).

June 1, 1980
Durational Limits on Depositions

Memorandum to the Judicial Conference Subcommittee on Discovery of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules assisting review of a proposal to limit the length of depositions. Findings were based on data gathered from counsel surveyed on duration of depositions in 1,000 closed civil cases.

 Table 1: Frequency and length (hours) of reported depositions

 Table 2: Frequency of reported depositions by attorney reports that there were “too many depositions"

 Table 3: Reported length of longest deposition by attorney reports that there were “too much time was taken in some or all depositions”

December 22, 1997
Early Stages of Litigation Attorney Survey: Report to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

This report summarizes the findings of a study of the operation of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(f) and 16(b) in a nationwide sample of recently terminated civil cases.

March 1, 2012
Effects of Amchem/Ortiz on the Filing of Federal Class Actions: Report to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules has been considering a proposal to revise Fed. R. Civil P. 23 to create new certification standards that would apply only to settlement class actions. The Committee sought empirical research from the Center to help it decide how to proceed. The Center conducted the research in two phases during 2002-2004. This report is the first phase. For the second phase see Attorney Reports on the Impact of Amchem and Ortiz on Choice of a Federal or State Forum in Class Action Litigation: A Report to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules Regarding a Case-based Survey of Attorneys (2004).

The Class Action Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to examine the impact, if any, of the Supreme Court decisions in Amchem and Ortiz on the rate at which plaintiffs file class actions in federal courts. The resulting report describes trends in federal class action filings, removals, settlements, and dismissals during the period from January 1994 through June 2001 and identifies certain discernible changes after the two decisions. The report discusses the results of a time-series analysis that tested whether there were any statistically significant relationships between the two decisions and the filing/disposition patterns found. Certain of the changes observed were not likely to have occurred by chance; however, many factors might have affected filings.

September 9, 2002
Eighth Circuit Expediting Project: Final Report

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January 1, 1981
Electronic Filing in State Courts

This report presents the results of an analysis of electronic filing practices in state courts to identify courts that require attorneys to complete electronic filings on the due date before a certain time other than midnight local time. We examined state-court systems in thirty states, chosen to include at least half of the states that comprise each of the eleven federal numbered circuits. An appendix includes rule excerpts. This report supplements a report on Electronic Filing Times in Federal Courts.

November 22, 2022

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